Tens of thousands of people have taken to the streets of London in protest against dramatic NHS cuts proposed by the Government.
Thought to be one of the biggest NHS rallies in history, the Our NHS march comes amid warnings of an unprecedented crisis within health services, fuelled by £20bn worth of cuts scheduled by 2020.
Organisers said the national demonstration was a call to arms for those who care about the NHS, as “more austerity in the NHS represents a real risk to the safety of patients and the service”.
Campaigners, medics, students and union representatives, among others, marched from Tavistock Square to Parliament Square in Westminster, where labour leader Jeremy Corbyn was due to address the crowd.
Speaking to the crowd, Mr Corbyn said: “Our NHS is not in crisis because of overspending, it’s in crisis because of underfunding, a crisis made down there in Downing Street”.
A rumoured 250,000 people were in attendance, with more than 150 coaches bringing NHS workers from all across the country to take part.
Union leaders rallying for the march said many NHS services are “on their knees” already and that attention must be drawn to plans which could lead to nearly two-thirds of services in England being cut back.
Full story in The Independent, 5 March 2017